08 March 2007

A new report–sad and troubling, yet essential–has been issued by the International News Safety Institute. Over 1000 journalists/media workers have died “trying to cover the news around the world in the past 10 years”, with almost 70% being murdered, only one in four during war or other armed conflicts, and the majority in peacetime, in their own home countries. I have a particular interest in this, since the country with which I still associate myself rather closely, despite living elsewhere–Russia–holds the dubious distinction of being the second in the number of deaths, after Iraq (!)Most of the murderers are never arrested, much less convicted, creating what INSI calls the “atmosphere of impunity”: if you don’t like what somebody is saying about you or your organization in the press, well…just kill them. This is an attack on free speech, democracy (in the true, non-Bushite sense of the word) and I, for one, am seriously troubled. The full report is available here; and the text of the UN Resolution 1738, on journalist safety, here.